Matthew Dodd will present songs and stories of the red, white and blue on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. at the Eicher Arts Center in Ephrata Borough’s Grater Park.

Dodd’s program will start with him performing George M. Cohan’s “You’re A Grand Old Flag” and include some of the greatest patriotic song’s in the nation’s history. Against the backdrop of different American flags representing the eras when each of the songs in the program was composed, he will sing the lyrics, play the music and tell stories about the songs’ creations and the people who composed them.

A former teacher with a strong interest in history as well as music, Dodd has become a Pennsylvania troubadour, offering music-and-history programs featuring different American themes and historical periods.

The program will take place in a place in a performing arts showcase, the Eicher House, that originated as the Eicher Farmhouse building in the 1730s. To save the Eicher House and the smaller Eicher Sisters House nearby from demolition in the 1980s, the non-profit Eicher Arts Center, Inc. was formed to work with Ephrata Borough to fix up and find new uses for the structures.

Dodd’s program is the final program on the Eicher’s 2021 schedule of cultural and entertainment events for the public.

Admission to the Nov. 14th program is free. Donations to the Arts Center will be accepted.

The Arts Center urges audience members to bring protective masks to wear at the event.